January 22, 26

 I have been working on transferring my banking from RBC to Scotiabank. When HSBC sold to RBC I was automatically changed to RBC but with Eric and Sheri, our financial planners now working with Scotia Wealth, I decided that it would be helpful for them and for me to be connected to the same banking institution. They have helped me make the change and my USD finally arrived into their accounts along with my other Canadian funds. I have a new SDB with them and I am feeling more settled. I have maintained a checking account with RBC to insure that everything is paid for that may come thru and I want to try to use my avion points with them. Always things needing to be done and taken care of. Without Tom I am on my own and having to take care of things we would have discussed together and he would have largely shouldered. I never feel alone though and I am certain he is supporting me with his prayers and love and at times input.

We had an atmospheric river system go thru and now we have had a lengthy cold spell with clear skies, which is a nice change, making for cool but sunny walks with the dog.

Our Tessy from Nigeria had a baby boy on New Years and I took dinner to their family. I went over to Bela’s townshouse to help her hang pictures. I took the flower arrangement, I had previously given her and recently redone for her, over with me. They have moved to Alberta but are maintaining their townhouse here. They will be back and forth. I have been baking and preparing for book club next week, the Mike Walker family one night stay, Jennifer’s visit just after the Walkers and then Tessy’s baby shower. We are planning an LOW training meeting for February, a Ministering Conference and then Cindy and I are going to fly to Lethbridge the end of February, beginning of March for a visit with Joanne and family and Jack. I am trying to keep everything straight and taking one step and one event at a time.

The children are all settling back into school and their activities. Cindy is working hard at her schooling and trying to keep up with her calling, her Temple service, her family and this week she agreed to substitute for two days. Needless to say I am not hearing from her as much but that is okay. I am praying for everyone.

January, 7 2026

 2026 has begun. This year will mark four years since Tom’s passing which is hard to comprehend. We celebrated family moments during those years, the children and I have traveled, we have had one family reunion, I have made some home and yard changes, served in several different callings, continue to serve in the Temple, added Kona to our family, along with three great grandsons Aksel, Hansen and Jaxon, one new granddaughter in law Monica, had two grandson’s return from missions - Jack and Bryson, bought a new car on my own, changed banks twice, conducted business affairs on my own and missed Tom at every step. I have felt peace and been carried in ways I never could have imagined. I acknowledge the Lord’s hand all along the way and Tom’s love ever present.

The lead up to Christmas was busy with baking, ward party, Bryson’s return from his mission, visit to see Jeff, flowers arriving, treats from neighbors and friends such as Frank and Donna, Liza’s family’s arrival on the 23rd, a visit to the Giving Machine and the Mill’s mall with the Burgess and Hardy family, shepherds’ dinner (made by Cindy) here on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day and family dinner here on Christmas Day. Breya had been skiing with friends and so arrived a few days later than her family but it was so great having them here. The Burgess family left on December 26 and we watched Bryson’s homecoming talk to on zoom December 28. Paul set Jack apart as a HP to serve on the YSA High Council in Lethbridge. I went to the movie Wicked and to eat at Wabi Sabi on New Years Eve with the Hardy family

and then I took Cindy, Paul and Jack out for dinner New Year’s Day. Sam was sick. We have had some sickness over the holidays. Jack is back to school in Lethbridge, Bryson is starting at BYU, Breya back at UofA, Sam and Jadyn continuing their schooling and Cindy taking a leave of absence from her work to complete her degree with BYUI. I am praying for everyone in their school, work, families and challenges.

Heartbreak entered into the holiday season as well. The Carlton’s lost another little girl, Molly, while visiting in Arizona, in similar fashion to their older daughter Abi. She passed suddenly on Christmas Day. Rubie’s husband Jaram Arnold was killed in a snowmobile accident in Wyoming on New Year’s Day. They have four children. Elder Holland passed away a couple of days after Christmas. Our hearts are hurting and our prayers are with them.

Christmas has been put away, two birthdays celebrated and we begin anew. I pray for my family and for those who are hurting. Life is a challenge but the Lord is always there to lift and sometimes carry.

December 12, 2025

 It is my father’s birthday today and also the date we had Mom’s funeral. She had passed away on December 5th and we knew we had to have her service a week later on Dad’s birthday. Dad had passed way during the warmth of summer June 28 of 1995 and Mom during the cold of the Christmas season 2009. Summer and warmth helped Mom deal with Dad’s passing and the Christmas season brought Mom’s children and grandchildren together again for one last Christmas celebration. Miss them both now and always as I do Tom as well. I feel all of them close by.

Time got away from me again and much has happened since I last wrote. I wanted to have my Christmas up before I left for Utah to be with Trevor’s family, so I worked hard that week to get my tree and everything up. I got money to take down to the Walker family for their Christmas and tried to get everything in order before I left on November 20th for Utah. I left Kona at home and Rolfson’s kindly drove me to the Bellingham airport to catch my flight to Las Vegas. Cindy picked the dog up after she finished work. I arrived in Las Vegas in advance of Trevor, Tammie and Trey and met them at their gate. Zach arrived about the same time they did at a nearby gate and we all moved on to the car rental location and picked up a large car to accommodate us. We went to eat at “In and Out” and then on to Saint George. Trevor had booked an Air BNB us. The next day Trevor’s four children all drove down to visit BYU and spend the day together. We went shopping for more food, Tammie had already ordered some. We picked Treyson up from JayLynn and made an early Thanksgiving dinner. JayLynn dropped Jaxon off later when she went to see some patients and everyone eventually arrived back for  the turkey dinner. It was fun to have them all together. The next day we were up early to get to the Temple for Jaxon’s sealing to his parents. It was lovely to be with them at that special time. We then kept the children out in the parking lot while JayLynn’s family went back into the Temple for her sister’s sealing. It  was a busy day! We handed the children back to them after the sister’s sealing so they could do pictures with them. We met them later at a church where we had Jaxon’s blessing just before the sister’s wedding reception. We ate and then left the celebration. Shirleen Slarks was in town visiting Jeff and family so we went to visit them before picking up some dinner to have with Justin and JayLynn at their home. Up the next morning and off to Las Vegas. Zach left first, Trevor’s group a few hours later and I left last in the evening. Cindy and Sam picked me up and got me home. It was a whirlwind but so glad I got the time to be with them and meet our sweet, little Jaxon Randall Walker. 

I have been busy carrying on with Christmas prep, yard clean up (Cindy and Paul helped trim my dogwood tree), attending book club at Laura Cardno’s, driving Bela to Abbotsford airport (all part of her move to Lethbridge), acting as Tessy’s escort at the Temple, attending Stake Conference, working on changing banks, having a heating man check my fireplace and AC and the plumber change my kitchen faucet and correct problems I had with two other sinks. I carry on with my regular callings and Temple attendance and service. I have been released as Temple Prep teacher for the ward and YSA. I will miss it.

Tammie had carpel tunnel surgery and Trevor had surgery on his shoulder to correct three tears that happened when he fell cracking his head. They had it done after they got home. Jadyn had gone back with them for the real Thanksgiving  and she took care of them that week Trey’s help.

An atmospheric river rain passed thru our area a couple of days ago and we have had flooding again in the Abbotsford area. 

I feel blessed to have had Rissa’s family here in October, been with  Trevor’s family in November and then to have Cindy and Liza’s family with me for Christmas. Love my family.❤️❤️

November16, 2025

 Time has slipped away again and I am late in doing an update. The year is slipping away too and we are now in the midst of  Christmas preparations. Luckily I had the permanent lights put on my house so that is taken care of and I can use the lights year round. I am going to Utah later this week for Jaxon’s sealing and blessing so I will celebrate American Thanksgiving early with Trevor’s family while there and give them their money for Christmas. I need to be ready for that trip and I want to have Christmas almost ready at this end so I don’t feel behind when I get home.

I have had Joanne and Dave here for the last week and a half. They came to stay at Wagner Hill’s new facility with Jeff for a couple of days and with me for the rest of the time. They had planned a side trip to Victoria with a rental car but Joanne’s hip was bothering her and I think the driving was beginning to worry her too so they just stayed put with me. Dave’s boys picked him up and took him for dinner and a university basketball tournament where his grandchildren were playing. I think they had a good time. We were able to celebrate  Remembrance Day by going to our parents’ grave in West Vancouver and then to White Spot with Cindy’s family. Joanne and I went with Bela to the Little White House for High Tea and a shop around the House. We went to the Temple, out for dinner two other times and shopping at the mall. They flew in and out of the Abbotsford Airport so that made it easy for me. It was fun having them.

I had Camille’s children on the Friday while Keaton and Michael were here for their Youth Conference. I dropped the boys off at the church for their final meetings and their drive back home before I went for my Temple shift. I attended Book Club at Marilyn’s house and had a good time. She and Melissa served an English tea to go along with the Emily Lion journals we were reading, I have been trying to get final yard clean up done before the arrival of winter and tend to my other affairs and callings. I have been released as Ward Temple Prep teacher. It is my favorite calling. We celebrated Halloween with about 200 children knocking on our door. Kona hates the fireworks that follow the trick or treater blitz. I continue to drive Wendy on certain days for her dialysis. I had the three sister missionaries for dinner this week. 

I am busy and that is good but I am not feeling too well right now. My shoulder, hip and knee have been hurting these last few days and I have just been feeling generally unwell. I am sure some of it is arthritis but I would like to get things settled  down. Paul is coming to renew my Temple recommend later and I have asked that he give me a blessing too. I have not had a blessing since Tom’s passing.

President Oaks is settling into his calling as President and Prophet and Elder Causse has been called as the new apostle. Ever changing and onward.

Cindy and Paul helped me adjust my Christmas light color and get my tree in so I can continue with my Christmas preparations. Blessed❤️❤️

October 24, 2025

 I have had Camille and her family here this morning. Camille drove down by herself with the three children in order for Presley to have a check up at Children’s Hospital and then for Camille to attend the the Temple today. I watched the children while she was gone. She had a bad headache when she got back here so she took some Tylenol and rested a bit before carrying on to Jenn’s for the night. She is a trooper.

I also have Keaton and his friend Michael here for the senior’s YMYW conference. Rosa drove them down and I picked them up at Crash Crawlers in Coquitlam last night and drove them to the church this morning. I will pick them up tonight after the dance. They had their things all over the downstairs so I kept Camille’s family upstairs.

It was lovely having the Bull family last week. We had a busy but good time. They flew in Wednesday evening and drove a rental from the airport. We went to the North Shore on Thursday and had treats at Delaney’s in the Edgemont Village, drove by the schools, home, ski tram and had a fun visit to the Capilano Suspension Bridge. We went down to the Quay before coming back to Langley. We had lasagna for dinner and invited Paul and Sam. Cindy popped by and then went out for dinner with her friends. We went shopping at the mall Friday morning and then to Fort Langley, visited the cemetery, walked Brae Island to see the log boom at the end. Sam came for pizza and the evening with the boys and the adults went to Wabi Sabi’s for dinner. I stayed home on Saturday and worked on Thanksgiving dinner. Cindy contributed potatoes and yams and Rissa bought a pumpkin pie. They took the kids to Toy Traders and Scott and Rissa went out for awhile on their own. The Hardy family came for dinner, games and a visit. It was fun and we have much to be thankful for. They left early Sunday morning to catch their flight.

 

I have been busy doing some fall yard clean up, training new LOWs for Temple service, organizing Temple schedules and organizing my business affairs. The postal strike had held up the arrival of some important business mail and all finally arrived and I think it is in order. I met with Sherri from Eric Muir who left Eric awhile ago to take a job closer to home. Eric has now moved over to her company and I am thrilled as I love Sherri and their offices are now five minutes away. I have met with Sherri and been on the phone with Phil as well. I am trying to stay on top of things.

I am peddling fast and sometimes feel weary but I also feel lifted and blessed beyond my capacity. Tom is always near.❤️❤️

October, 10, 2025

 Oh my, I didn’t realize that so much time had passed since my last blog. Here goes a catch up.

Most importantly we all woke up to a scare on Monday, September 23. Rissa called me early to say that Trevor was in an ambulance on way to the hospital with a possible stroke or heart attack. Justin had tried my cell but it was in the bathroom and I wasn’t hearing it. Jadyn called me too and I called Cindy and Liza. I phoned Zach to check on him. We all started praying. Tammie let us know that all tests were clear and that they were sending him home. We later got the full story. He is on a high protein, low calorie diet and once in awhile he gets dizzy when getting up. He had a dizzy spell in the gym a few days before and that particular night, when he got up to go to the bathroom, he had a dizzy spell and cracked his head open on Tammie’s night stand. She patched him up and waited until morning to take him to urgent care. After getting eight staples in his head, Tammie and the nurse noticed that he was passing out and the nurse fearing the worst called for an ambulance to get him to the hospital. Tom had fainting spells and it appears that Trevor does too and sometimes has sudden drops in blood pressure and that results in these episodes. They thought he flat lined a couple of years ago when he had some surgery and did the same thing. Still very concerning and concerning for all of us who love him. He needs to make some live style changes.

I have been working on some business affairs such as getting my passport renewed, trying to register with CRA to set up an account so that I can pay my business taxes online. The passport is to be mailed to me and the CRA are mailing a security code to me to complete my account and Canada Post has gone on strike. Trevor has invited me to Utah the end of November for baby Jaxon’s sealing and blessing as his adoption will be finalized then. I need my passport and I have booked a flight. Canada Post will go to rotating strikes next week and hopefully that gets things moving. 

The Temple opened after closure and we have been busy with Live Ordinances. I am short on female LOWs and that keeps me scrambling to complete the puzzle and Ted let me know that he will be released as male LOW coordinator due to his wife’s health concerns. I will miss him.

I have been working with the Relief Society Presidency to rework the ministering list. We had a long evening meeting at the church and I suggested that they come to my house the next week and I would make them a light supper. They came this last Tuesday and I made them soup and Bran Muffins. The meeting was about 4 hours long. Oh dear! We are using the posters that I made of  the three districts.

Jonny drove out to bring Jeff’s dog Gertie for a visit. We met them at Brae Island and went for a walk with Kona and Gertie. Cindy and Paul came too and we had a nice visit. I bought everyone scones.

I had my eye appointment with Dan Davis. Cindy and I attended Toese’s 70th Birthday Party at the church. I had permanent Christmas lights put on my house and I love them. I can change color and configuration of the lights with my phone app.

Our dear President Nelson passed away at 101years old just a week before General Conference. The conference continued as planned with President Oaks presiding as president of the 12 Apostles. It has been a unique experience. Sadly, a very distraught man plowed his truck into one of our churches in Michigan during  Sunday services, began shooting people and set the church on fire just a day after we lost President Nelson. Several people were killed and more injured. They are working to heal and we are all praying. Church members and others have donated money to the man’s family to assist them as the police killed him in a shootout. Terrible situation. 

It has been a busy, difficult and blessed few weeks. We will miss President Nelson. He was remarkable and kept us all moving with changes and the ongoing restoration.

September 16, 2025

 Our dear friend Mike Richardson passed away suddenly the end of August and I attended his funeral with Marilyn and Cordell at the Coquitlam building last week. It is just another reminder that we are all on our individual earthly path, each with an arrival date and then a departure date we do not know but hopefully daily prepare for while also striving to live with joy. Mike and Carol are a great couple and Tom’s part in Mike’s decision to join the church has made their journey dear to us.

Cindy and I visited Jeff on September 5th for the Wagner Hills open house with the completion of their new housing accommodations. They have all been waiting for this for months and I am so glad Jeff has the opportunity to live in this beautiful new building. Jeff gave us a personal tour and the whole facility is lovely. I made him some of mom’s cookies and I think he was happy to have us there. He seems to be doing well and we pray for his success.

The Temple is on a two week maintenance closure right now but I went in a couple of times last week to aid with the cleaning of the Celestial Room Chandelier. I was shocked when I saw that it was completely dismantled. We have cleaned it before but left the crystals hanging and cleaned them individually. I didn’t help a great deal but Bela and Sharon Hara did the bulk of the work with assistance from a handful of others. I went back in the Temple Saturday to participate in a special session of Stake presidents and wives here for the coordinating council meetings. They needed an extra woman plus I helped as a worker when needed. I am washing my Temple clothes and dresses this week.

Liza and Sayde drove down on the weekend to attend the “Lion King” at the Queen Elizabeth theatre. We had bought tickets close to the Hardy family and drove down with them. It was a great production but I am still overwhelmed that people don’t dress for live Theatre anymore and they take drinks and popcorn in. A little sad I think. I took Sayde and Liza for dinner after my time in the Temple on Saturday and they drove home in the evening.

We have decided to have a Walker Family Reunion next summer from July 31 to August 6 in Whitefish. Rissa says we can use their mountain cabin and guest house. Exciting! I am hoping to honor their Walker heritage with Walker plaid as a theme. Missing our Walker boy.❤️❤️

Last bouquet of several months of  Mother’s Day flowers from our children.